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The Gizzard Shad in Relationto Plants and Game FishesL H Tiffany aa Ohio State University Columbus Ohio USAPublished online 09 Jan 2011
To cite this article L H Tiffany (1921) The Gizzard Shad in Relation to Plants andGame Fishes Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 501 381-386 DOI1015771548-8659(1920)50[381TGSIRT]20CO2
To link to this article httpdxdoiorg1015771548-8659(1920)50[381TGSIRT]20CO2
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This article may be used for research teaching and private studypurposes Any substantial or systematic reproduction redistributionreselling loan sub-licensing systematic supply or distribution in any formto anyone is expressly forbidden Terms amp Conditions of access and usecan be found at httpwwwtandfonlinecompageterms-and-conditions
Dow
nloa
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2014
THE GIZZARD SHAD IN RELATION TO PLANTS AND GAME FISHES
BY L H TIFFANY
Ohio State University Columbus Ohio
It is the purpose of this preliminary paper to record some observations on the food and feeding habits of the young giz- zard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum Le Sueur) and the plate it holds as a connecting link between microscopic plants and the game fishes This species often called the hickory shad is very abundance at Buckeye Indian and Loramie Lakes often more than a thousand of the young being taken at one haul of the collecting seine It is less common in the other localities covered by the survey in Ohio
The fish collected were pubullt into a five per cent solution of formalin thus preserving the contents of the stomach and intes- tine and preventing further digestive action The examination of the contents of the digestive tract was made with a com- pound microscope the highest powers often being necessary for identification of the food Adult fishes are not considered
in this paper examination being limited to young specimens under seventy millimeters in length measured from the point of snout to the base of the caudal fin About two hundred in- dividuals were studied from the localities named above
Since the excellent work of Forbes nearly forty years ago bullery little study appears to have been made of the food of the gizzard shad According to Forbes the shad is a mud lover par excellence swallows large quantities of fine mud con- taining about twenty per cent of minutely divided vegetable debris and consumes when young food that is approxi- mately 90 per cent microscopic animals and the rest microscopic plants From data at hand it appears that these statements
On the food relations of freshwater fishes a summary and dicusslon S A Forbes Bulletin Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History Vol II Art 8 i888
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
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ovem
ber
2014
382 American Fisheries Society
require considerable modification when applied to young fish within the limits of this study
The food of the young gizzard shad may be roughly grouped into the following kinds in order of their importance as noted in the examination of stomach and intestinal contents
microscopic unicellular plants (algae) microscopic animals and filamentous algae Mud usually forms from ten to thirty per cent of the contents and a similar quantity is unrecognizable plant debris Mud is often entirely lacking from the stomach contents and it is my belief that it is merely incidental to the manner of feeding No consideration is given therefore to its varying amount in the digestive tract
The gizzard shad feeds by swimming through the water with its mouth open in an apparently aimless manner The presence of such masses of microscopic material in the diges- tive tract is accounted for in part when the feeding apparatus of the fish is examined The very numerous fine gill rakers on the gill arches oppose the escape through the gill slits of very small objects which enter the mouth of the fish with the water of respiration Thus like a very fine sieve these allow the water to pass out through the gill slits as the fish swims along while the minute organisms are retained and introduced into its alimentary canal
The gizzard shad is the most wonderful combination of tow net and centrifuge that one could desire Wherever this fish was found it was not necessary to do any towing to get an estimate of the number and kinds of microscopic plants for the stomach contents represented a concentrated sample of the plankton The number of different kinds of microscopic algae found in an identifiable condition in the digestive tract of the gizzard shad is markedly large In a single fish taken at Buck- eye Lake on July 1 fifty species and varieties of algae were found from the specimens examined to date from the various localities named above the number of species exceeds 140 and will doubtless reach consi derably higher The majority of these are unicellular and colonial forms included in the group
Dow
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ded
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e U
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] at
18
59 1
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ovem
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2014
Tiffany--The Gizzard Shad 383
known bulls Protococcales a number are desmids and diatoms and a few are filamentous The number of any particular kind especially among the Protocoecales seems to depend directly upon the richness of the plankton present No attempt is made in this paper to give the identification of the microscopic plants and animalswa further study is necessary before such a report can be made
The following table gives in approximate percentages the food of the gizzard shad in a comparative way for each locality
APPROXIMATE PERCENTAGES OF KINDS OF FOOD IN GIZZARD SHAD
Locality
Buckeye Lake Loramie Lake Indian Lake
St Marys Lake Chippewa Lake Portage Lakes
Micro- Micro-
algm animals
Percentage Percentage 80-90 o-5 75-9 o 26 75-88 3-5 8o-9o 6-8 8o-9o z 3 70-9 oslash zo-x 5
Filamentous
Percentage
o
2- 4
Oo
2- 5
Plant
debris
5-I0
5-20
ZOX5
8-X2
5-I0
XOZ5
One of the outstanding features of the foregoing table is the constancy in the percentage of microscopic plants found in the fishes examined regardless of locality or size within the range of this study The kinds of algabull comprising the food were not the same for different localities and even for the same locality differences were noted in fish collected in June and August This variation is doubtless due to the geographic dis- tribution of the plants and to the fact that most algae have rather definite seasonal cycles of vegetative development But the more or less constant percentage seems to indicate that the gizzard shad is able to utilize a rather large variety of micro- scopic plants The writer hopes to be able to follow out some of the seasonal changes for a given locality in the near future Another interesting observation is the comparative sameness of diet of the fish throughout the period it is attaining a length of sebull-enty millimeters and even more Many other fishes like
A complete list of the algm determined in the food of the Gizzard Shad appeared in the Ohio Journal of Science for February z92z
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
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rsity
] at
18
59 1
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ovem
ber
2014
384 dinerican Fisheries Society
the small and large-mouth bass make decided changes in the kind of food taken during the period of their growth to a similar length An examination of two gizzard shad 200 mil- limeters in Iength did not materially alter the percentages as given above with the exception that there was a greater amount of unrecognizable debris
The animal percentages are not so constant the amount being sometimes zero but it seems certain that no discrimina- tion is exercised in food selection The gizzard shad is chiefly a vegetarian but the percentages of animal food present are too large to be considered otherwise than as he animal part of the plankton On the other hand it forms no such large a factor as the report of Forbes would indicate which means merely that in the present case the plant life was proportionately more abundant Towing records indicate the same proportions of animal and plant life in the plankton
The filamentous algae were always present in small quanti- ties and there was but a single instance of the presence of any parts of the higher plants In one gizzard shad the re- mains of some epidermal and palisade cells of a small leaf were found but it must be considered purely accidental The filamentous algae were largely young plants broken up into relatively small pieces No plant was ever observed longer than three-tenths of a millimeter and the material was never wadded up either in the gizzard or in the intestine
Not more than a decade or two ago most ichthyologists were agreed that the gizzard shad was a beautiful but never- theless worthless fish That it is beautiful no one will dispute With its Silvery white sides and its graceful rapid dashes through the water near the surface it makes a very attractive fish But it is decidedly not worthless While it is not a game fish and at the present time furnishes very littie food for man it holds a very important place in the life cycle of a number of our best game fish notably the smaI1 and Iarge-mouth bass the crapPie and the white bass The younger gizzard shad fur-
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Tiffany--The Gixard Shad 385
nishes excellent food for these fishes which experience no dif- ficulty in disposing of the too numerous bones
As noted above the shad is almost wholly a vegetarian and thrives on plants so tiny and minute that sometimes 10000 of them laid side by side would not reach an inch These minute plants form a very important part of the flora of most unpol- luted bodies of water and are present by the millions in nearly every Iake of the state None of the other fishes seems to be able to utilize this great source of food to any considerable extent except when quite young Thus the gizzard shad does not interfere in the least with the food supply of the game fishes and is itself excellent food for the majority of our game fishes
The gizzard shad offers for the game fishes one of the most direct routes from manufacturer to consumer that is pos- sible among fishes Of course plants ultimately form the basic food for all living organisms but the cycle is oftentimes a long one The Chinese proverb Big fish eat little fish little fish eat shrimp and shrimp eat m ud gives a cycle that comes very nearly standing the test of modern science if we understand the mud to be microscopic plants and animals An ordinary food cycle of a fish might be illustrated by a bass feeding on smaller fish these in turn on tiny animals which may eat the larvae of still smaller animal organisms and the latter living on microscopic algae But the cycle from the same bass through the gizzard shad to microscopic algae is a much shorter and more direct route Thus the gizzard shad holds a rather unique position in that it may completely bridge the gap between our game fishes and the ultimate source of their food supply the microscopic plants
In 1888 Forbes wrote this very important paragraph about the gizzard shad but it is only recently that any practical ap- plication is being made of such knowledge
Among the soft-tinned fishes the most valuable as food for other kinds is the gizzard shad (Dorosoma) this single fish being about twice as common in adults as all the minnow family taken together It made forty per cent of the food of the wall-eyed pike a third of that of the
Dow
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Nor
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ina
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] at
18
59 1
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ovem
ber
2014
386 American Fisheries Society
black bass nearly half of that of the common pike or bullpickerel two- thirds of that of the four specimens of golden shad examined and a third of the food of the gars The only other fishes in whose stomachs it was recognized were the yellow cat (4rneiurus natalis) and the young white bullbass (Roccus) It thus seems to be the especial food of the large game fishes and other particularly predaceous kinds
It seems important that such information should be widely distributed among those interested in the propagation of fishes As an illustration of benefits to be derived from such knowl-
edge mention may be made of conditions at the newly formed Milton Reservoir near Newton Falls Ohio This fine body of water with its plentiful supply of microscopic alge as ascer- tained from towed material offers excellent living conditions for the gizzard shad and its presence means plenty of food for the bass Dr Raymond C Osburn has already advised in one of his reports to the State Bureau that this reservoir be stocked with the gizzard shad
SUMMARY
The observations recorded in the paper may be briefly sum- marized as follows
1 The distribution of the gizzard shad is general for the inland lakes of Ohio
2 Its food consists in the main of microscopic alge with a small variable percentage of microscopic animals
3 It seems that mud though present to some extent in most of the fishes examined is incidental
4 The gizzard shad furnishes excellent food for most of our game fishes notably the large-mouth and small-mouth bass the crappie and the white bass
5 The gizzard shad holds an almost unique position as a direct connection between the microscopic plants and the game fishes interfering in no way with the food supply of the latter
Dow
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ded
by [
Nor
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] at
18
59 1
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ovem
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2014
This article may be used for research teaching and private studypurposes Any substantial or systematic reproduction redistributionreselling loan sub-licensing systematic supply or distribution in any formto anyone is expressly forbidden Terms amp Conditions of access and usecan be found at httpwwwtandfonlinecompageterms-and-conditions
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
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ovem
ber
2014
THE GIZZARD SHAD IN RELATION TO PLANTS AND GAME FISHES
BY L H TIFFANY
Ohio State University Columbus Ohio
It is the purpose of this preliminary paper to record some observations on the food and feeding habits of the young giz- zard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum Le Sueur) and the plate it holds as a connecting link between microscopic plants and the game fishes This species often called the hickory shad is very abundance at Buckeye Indian and Loramie Lakes often more than a thousand of the young being taken at one haul of the collecting seine It is less common in the other localities covered by the survey in Ohio
The fish collected were pubullt into a five per cent solution of formalin thus preserving the contents of the stomach and intes- tine and preventing further digestive action The examination of the contents of the digestive tract was made with a com- pound microscope the highest powers often being necessary for identification of the food Adult fishes are not considered
in this paper examination being limited to young specimens under seventy millimeters in length measured from the point of snout to the base of the caudal fin About two hundred in- dividuals were studied from the localities named above
Since the excellent work of Forbes nearly forty years ago bullery little study appears to have been made of the food of the gizzard shad According to Forbes the shad is a mud lover par excellence swallows large quantities of fine mud con- taining about twenty per cent of minutely divided vegetable debris and consumes when young food that is approxi- mately 90 per cent microscopic animals and the rest microscopic plants From data at hand it appears that these statements
On the food relations of freshwater fishes a summary and dicusslon S A Forbes Bulletin Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History Vol II Art 8 i888
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
382 American Fisheries Society
require considerable modification when applied to young fish within the limits of this study
The food of the young gizzard shad may be roughly grouped into the following kinds in order of their importance as noted in the examination of stomach and intestinal contents
microscopic unicellular plants (algae) microscopic animals and filamentous algae Mud usually forms from ten to thirty per cent of the contents and a similar quantity is unrecognizable plant debris Mud is often entirely lacking from the stomach contents and it is my belief that it is merely incidental to the manner of feeding No consideration is given therefore to its varying amount in the digestive tract
The gizzard shad feeds by swimming through the water with its mouth open in an apparently aimless manner The presence of such masses of microscopic material in the diges- tive tract is accounted for in part when the feeding apparatus of the fish is examined The very numerous fine gill rakers on the gill arches oppose the escape through the gill slits of very small objects which enter the mouth of the fish with the water of respiration Thus like a very fine sieve these allow the water to pass out through the gill slits as the fish swims along while the minute organisms are retained and introduced into its alimentary canal
The gizzard shad is the most wonderful combination of tow net and centrifuge that one could desire Wherever this fish was found it was not necessary to do any towing to get an estimate of the number and kinds of microscopic plants for the stomach contents represented a concentrated sample of the plankton The number of different kinds of microscopic algae found in an identifiable condition in the digestive tract of the gizzard shad is markedly large In a single fish taken at Buck- eye Lake on July 1 fifty species and varieties of algae were found from the specimens examined to date from the various localities named above the number of species exceeds 140 and will doubtless reach consi derably higher The majority of these are unicellular and colonial forms included in the group
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
Tiffany--The Gizzard Shad 383
known bulls Protococcales a number are desmids and diatoms and a few are filamentous The number of any particular kind especially among the Protocoecales seems to depend directly upon the richness of the plankton present No attempt is made in this paper to give the identification of the microscopic plants and animalswa further study is necessary before such a report can be made
The following table gives in approximate percentages the food of the gizzard shad in a comparative way for each locality
APPROXIMATE PERCENTAGES OF KINDS OF FOOD IN GIZZARD SHAD
Locality
Buckeye Lake Loramie Lake Indian Lake
St Marys Lake Chippewa Lake Portage Lakes
Micro- Micro-
algm animals
Percentage Percentage 80-90 o-5 75-9 o 26 75-88 3-5 8o-9o 6-8 8o-9o z 3 70-9 oslash zo-x 5
Filamentous
Percentage
o
2- 4
Oo
2- 5
Plant
debris
5-I0
5-20
ZOX5
8-X2
5-I0
XOZ5
One of the outstanding features of the foregoing table is the constancy in the percentage of microscopic plants found in the fishes examined regardless of locality or size within the range of this study The kinds of algabull comprising the food were not the same for different localities and even for the same locality differences were noted in fish collected in June and August This variation is doubtless due to the geographic dis- tribution of the plants and to the fact that most algae have rather definite seasonal cycles of vegetative development But the more or less constant percentage seems to indicate that the gizzard shad is able to utilize a rather large variety of micro- scopic plants The writer hopes to be able to follow out some of the seasonal changes for a given locality in the near future Another interesting observation is the comparative sameness of diet of the fish throughout the period it is attaining a length of sebull-enty millimeters and even more Many other fishes like
A complete list of the algm determined in the food of the Gizzard Shad appeared in the Ohio Journal of Science for February z92z
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
384 dinerican Fisheries Society
the small and large-mouth bass make decided changes in the kind of food taken during the period of their growth to a similar length An examination of two gizzard shad 200 mil- limeters in Iength did not materially alter the percentages as given above with the exception that there was a greater amount of unrecognizable debris
The animal percentages are not so constant the amount being sometimes zero but it seems certain that no discrimina- tion is exercised in food selection The gizzard shad is chiefly a vegetarian but the percentages of animal food present are too large to be considered otherwise than as he animal part of the plankton On the other hand it forms no such large a factor as the report of Forbes would indicate which means merely that in the present case the plant life was proportionately more abundant Towing records indicate the same proportions of animal and plant life in the plankton
The filamentous algae were always present in small quanti- ties and there was but a single instance of the presence of any parts of the higher plants In one gizzard shad the re- mains of some epidermal and palisade cells of a small leaf were found but it must be considered purely accidental The filamentous algae were largely young plants broken up into relatively small pieces No plant was ever observed longer than three-tenths of a millimeter and the material was never wadded up either in the gizzard or in the intestine
Not more than a decade or two ago most ichthyologists were agreed that the gizzard shad was a beautiful but never- theless worthless fish That it is beautiful no one will dispute With its Silvery white sides and its graceful rapid dashes through the water near the surface it makes a very attractive fish But it is decidedly not worthless While it is not a game fish and at the present time furnishes very littie food for man it holds a very important place in the life cycle of a number of our best game fish notably the smaI1 and Iarge-mouth bass the crapPie and the white bass The younger gizzard shad fur-
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
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ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
Tiffany--The Gixard Shad 385
nishes excellent food for these fishes which experience no dif- ficulty in disposing of the too numerous bones
As noted above the shad is almost wholly a vegetarian and thrives on plants so tiny and minute that sometimes 10000 of them laid side by side would not reach an inch These minute plants form a very important part of the flora of most unpol- luted bodies of water and are present by the millions in nearly every Iake of the state None of the other fishes seems to be able to utilize this great source of food to any considerable extent except when quite young Thus the gizzard shad does not interfere in the least with the food supply of the game fishes and is itself excellent food for the majority of our game fishes
The gizzard shad offers for the game fishes one of the most direct routes from manufacturer to consumer that is pos- sible among fishes Of course plants ultimately form the basic food for all living organisms but the cycle is oftentimes a long one The Chinese proverb Big fish eat little fish little fish eat shrimp and shrimp eat m ud gives a cycle that comes very nearly standing the test of modern science if we understand the mud to be microscopic plants and animals An ordinary food cycle of a fish might be illustrated by a bass feeding on smaller fish these in turn on tiny animals which may eat the larvae of still smaller animal organisms and the latter living on microscopic algae But the cycle from the same bass through the gizzard shad to microscopic algae is a much shorter and more direct route Thus the gizzard shad holds a rather unique position in that it may completely bridge the gap between our game fishes and the ultimate source of their food supply the microscopic plants
In 1888 Forbes wrote this very important paragraph about the gizzard shad but it is only recently that any practical ap- plication is being made of such knowledge
Among the soft-tinned fishes the most valuable as food for other kinds is the gizzard shad (Dorosoma) this single fish being about twice as common in adults as all the minnow family taken together It made forty per cent of the food of the wall-eyed pike a third of that of the
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
386 American Fisheries Society
black bass nearly half of that of the common pike or bullpickerel two- thirds of that of the four specimens of golden shad examined and a third of the food of the gars The only other fishes in whose stomachs it was recognized were the yellow cat (4rneiurus natalis) and the young white bullbass (Roccus) It thus seems to be the especial food of the large game fishes and other particularly predaceous kinds
It seems important that such information should be widely distributed among those interested in the propagation of fishes As an illustration of benefits to be derived from such knowl-
edge mention may be made of conditions at the newly formed Milton Reservoir near Newton Falls Ohio This fine body of water with its plentiful supply of microscopic alge as ascer- tained from towed material offers excellent living conditions for the gizzard shad and its presence means plenty of food for the bass Dr Raymond C Osburn has already advised in one of his reports to the State Bureau that this reservoir be stocked with the gizzard shad
SUMMARY
The observations recorded in the paper may be briefly sum- marized as follows
1 The distribution of the gizzard shad is general for the inland lakes of Ohio
2 Its food consists in the main of microscopic alge with a small variable percentage of microscopic animals
3 It seems that mud though present to some extent in most of the fishes examined is incidental
4 The gizzard shad furnishes excellent food for most of our game fishes notably the large-mouth and small-mouth bass the crappie and the white bass
5 The gizzard shad holds an almost unique position as a direct connection between the microscopic plants and the game fishes interfering in no way with the food supply of the latter
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
THE GIZZARD SHAD IN RELATION TO PLANTS AND GAME FISHES
BY L H TIFFANY
Ohio State University Columbus Ohio
It is the purpose of this preliminary paper to record some observations on the food and feeding habits of the young giz- zard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum Le Sueur) and the plate it holds as a connecting link between microscopic plants and the game fishes This species often called the hickory shad is very abundance at Buckeye Indian and Loramie Lakes often more than a thousand of the young being taken at one haul of the collecting seine It is less common in the other localities covered by the survey in Ohio
The fish collected were pubullt into a five per cent solution of formalin thus preserving the contents of the stomach and intes- tine and preventing further digestive action The examination of the contents of the digestive tract was made with a com- pound microscope the highest powers often being necessary for identification of the food Adult fishes are not considered
in this paper examination being limited to young specimens under seventy millimeters in length measured from the point of snout to the base of the caudal fin About two hundred in- dividuals were studied from the localities named above
Since the excellent work of Forbes nearly forty years ago bullery little study appears to have been made of the food of the gizzard shad According to Forbes the shad is a mud lover par excellence swallows large quantities of fine mud con- taining about twenty per cent of minutely divided vegetable debris and consumes when young food that is approxi- mately 90 per cent microscopic animals and the rest microscopic plants From data at hand it appears that these statements
On the food relations of freshwater fishes a summary and dicusslon S A Forbes Bulletin Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History Vol II Art 8 i888
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
382 American Fisheries Society
require considerable modification when applied to young fish within the limits of this study
The food of the young gizzard shad may be roughly grouped into the following kinds in order of their importance as noted in the examination of stomach and intestinal contents
microscopic unicellular plants (algae) microscopic animals and filamentous algae Mud usually forms from ten to thirty per cent of the contents and a similar quantity is unrecognizable plant debris Mud is often entirely lacking from the stomach contents and it is my belief that it is merely incidental to the manner of feeding No consideration is given therefore to its varying amount in the digestive tract
The gizzard shad feeds by swimming through the water with its mouth open in an apparently aimless manner The presence of such masses of microscopic material in the diges- tive tract is accounted for in part when the feeding apparatus of the fish is examined The very numerous fine gill rakers on the gill arches oppose the escape through the gill slits of very small objects which enter the mouth of the fish with the water of respiration Thus like a very fine sieve these allow the water to pass out through the gill slits as the fish swims along while the minute organisms are retained and introduced into its alimentary canal
The gizzard shad is the most wonderful combination of tow net and centrifuge that one could desire Wherever this fish was found it was not necessary to do any towing to get an estimate of the number and kinds of microscopic plants for the stomach contents represented a concentrated sample of the plankton The number of different kinds of microscopic algae found in an identifiable condition in the digestive tract of the gizzard shad is markedly large In a single fish taken at Buck- eye Lake on July 1 fifty species and varieties of algae were found from the specimens examined to date from the various localities named above the number of species exceeds 140 and will doubtless reach consi derably higher The majority of these are unicellular and colonial forms included in the group
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
Tiffany--The Gizzard Shad 383
known bulls Protococcales a number are desmids and diatoms and a few are filamentous The number of any particular kind especially among the Protocoecales seems to depend directly upon the richness of the plankton present No attempt is made in this paper to give the identification of the microscopic plants and animalswa further study is necessary before such a report can be made
The following table gives in approximate percentages the food of the gizzard shad in a comparative way for each locality
APPROXIMATE PERCENTAGES OF KINDS OF FOOD IN GIZZARD SHAD
Locality
Buckeye Lake Loramie Lake Indian Lake
St Marys Lake Chippewa Lake Portage Lakes
Micro- Micro-
algm animals
Percentage Percentage 80-90 o-5 75-9 o 26 75-88 3-5 8o-9o 6-8 8o-9o z 3 70-9 oslash zo-x 5
Filamentous
Percentage
o
2- 4
Oo
2- 5
Plant
debris
5-I0
5-20
ZOX5
8-X2
5-I0
XOZ5
One of the outstanding features of the foregoing table is the constancy in the percentage of microscopic plants found in the fishes examined regardless of locality or size within the range of this study The kinds of algabull comprising the food were not the same for different localities and even for the same locality differences were noted in fish collected in June and August This variation is doubtless due to the geographic dis- tribution of the plants and to the fact that most algae have rather definite seasonal cycles of vegetative development But the more or less constant percentage seems to indicate that the gizzard shad is able to utilize a rather large variety of micro- scopic plants The writer hopes to be able to follow out some of the seasonal changes for a given locality in the near future Another interesting observation is the comparative sameness of diet of the fish throughout the period it is attaining a length of sebull-enty millimeters and even more Many other fishes like
A complete list of the algm determined in the food of the Gizzard Shad appeared in the Ohio Journal of Science for February z92z
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
384 dinerican Fisheries Society
the small and large-mouth bass make decided changes in the kind of food taken during the period of their growth to a similar length An examination of two gizzard shad 200 mil- limeters in Iength did not materially alter the percentages as given above with the exception that there was a greater amount of unrecognizable debris
The animal percentages are not so constant the amount being sometimes zero but it seems certain that no discrimina- tion is exercised in food selection The gizzard shad is chiefly a vegetarian but the percentages of animal food present are too large to be considered otherwise than as he animal part of the plankton On the other hand it forms no such large a factor as the report of Forbes would indicate which means merely that in the present case the plant life was proportionately more abundant Towing records indicate the same proportions of animal and plant life in the plankton
The filamentous algae were always present in small quanti- ties and there was but a single instance of the presence of any parts of the higher plants In one gizzard shad the re- mains of some epidermal and palisade cells of a small leaf were found but it must be considered purely accidental The filamentous algae were largely young plants broken up into relatively small pieces No plant was ever observed longer than three-tenths of a millimeter and the material was never wadded up either in the gizzard or in the intestine
Not more than a decade or two ago most ichthyologists were agreed that the gizzard shad was a beautiful but never- theless worthless fish That it is beautiful no one will dispute With its Silvery white sides and its graceful rapid dashes through the water near the surface it makes a very attractive fish But it is decidedly not worthless While it is not a game fish and at the present time furnishes very littie food for man it holds a very important place in the life cycle of a number of our best game fish notably the smaI1 and Iarge-mouth bass the crapPie and the white bass The younger gizzard shad fur-
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
Tiffany--The Gixard Shad 385
nishes excellent food for these fishes which experience no dif- ficulty in disposing of the too numerous bones
As noted above the shad is almost wholly a vegetarian and thrives on plants so tiny and minute that sometimes 10000 of them laid side by side would not reach an inch These minute plants form a very important part of the flora of most unpol- luted bodies of water and are present by the millions in nearly every Iake of the state None of the other fishes seems to be able to utilize this great source of food to any considerable extent except when quite young Thus the gizzard shad does not interfere in the least with the food supply of the game fishes and is itself excellent food for the majority of our game fishes
The gizzard shad offers for the game fishes one of the most direct routes from manufacturer to consumer that is pos- sible among fishes Of course plants ultimately form the basic food for all living organisms but the cycle is oftentimes a long one The Chinese proverb Big fish eat little fish little fish eat shrimp and shrimp eat m ud gives a cycle that comes very nearly standing the test of modern science if we understand the mud to be microscopic plants and animals An ordinary food cycle of a fish might be illustrated by a bass feeding on smaller fish these in turn on tiny animals which may eat the larvae of still smaller animal organisms and the latter living on microscopic algae But the cycle from the same bass through the gizzard shad to microscopic algae is a much shorter and more direct route Thus the gizzard shad holds a rather unique position in that it may completely bridge the gap between our game fishes and the ultimate source of their food supply the microscopic plants
In 1888 Forbes wrote this very important paragraph about the gizzard shad but it is only recently that any practical ap- plication is being made of such knowledge
Among the soft-tinned fishes the most valuable as food for other kinds is the gizzard shad (Dorosoma) this single fish being about twice as common in adults as all the minnow family taken together It made forty per cent of the food of the wall-eyed pike a third of that of the
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
386 American Fisheries Society
black bass nearly half of that of the common pike or bullpickerel two- thirds of that of the four specimens of golden shad examined and a third of the food of the gars The only other fishes in whose stomachs it was recognized were the yellow cat (4rneiurus natalis) and the young white bullbass (Roccus) It thus seems to be the especial food of the large game fishes and other particularly predaceous kinds
It seems important that such information should be widely distributed among those interested in the propagation of fishes As an illustration of benefits to be derived from such knowl-
edge mention may be made of conditions at the newly formed Milton Reservoir near Newton Falls Ohio This fine body of water with its plentiful supply of microscopic alge as ascer- tained from towed material offers excellent living conditions for the gizzard shad and its presence means plenty of food for the bass Dr Raymond C Osburn has already advised in one of his reports to the State Bureau that this reservoir be stocked with the gizzard shad
SUMMARY
The observations recorded in the paper may be briefly sum- marized as follows
1 The distribution of the gizzard shad is general for the inland lakes of Ohio
2 Its food consists in the main of microscopic alge with a small variable percentage of microscopic animals
3 It seems that mud though present to some extent in most of the fishes examined is incidental
4 The gizzard shad furnishes excellent food for most of our game fishes notably the large-mouth and small-mouth bass the crappie and the white bass
5 The gizzard shad holds an almost unique position as a direct connection between the microscopic plants and the game fishes interfering in no way with the food supply of the latter
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
382 American Fisheries Society
require considerable modification when applied to young fish within the limits of this study
The food of the young gizzard shad may be roughly grouped into the following kinds in order of their importance as noted in the examination of stomach and intestinal contents
microscopic unicellular plants (algae) microscopic animals and filamentous algae Mud usually forms from ten to thirty per cent of the contents and a similar quantity is unrecognizable plant debris Mud is often entirely lacking from the stomach contents and it is my belief that it is merely incidental to the manner of feeding No consideration is given therefore to its varying amount in the digestive tract
The gizzard shad feeds by swimming through the water with its mouth open in an apparently aimless manner The presence of such masses of microscopic material in the diges- tive tract is accounted for in part when the feeding apparatus of the fish is examined The very numerous fine gill rakers on the gill arches oppose the escape through the gill slits of very small objects which enter the mouth of the fish with the water of respiration Thus like a very fine sieve these allow the water to pass out through the gill slits as the fish swims along while the minute organisms are retained and introduced into its alimentary canal
The gizzard shad is the most wonderful combination of tow net and centrifuge that one could desire Wherever this fish was found it was not necessary to do any towing to get an estimate of the number and kinds of microscopic plants for the stomach contents represented a concentrated sample of the plankton The number of different kinds of microscopic algae found in an identifiable condition in the digestive tract of the gizzard shad is markedly large In a single fish taken at Buck- eye Lake on July 1 fifty species and varieties of algae were found from the specimens examined to date from the various localities named above the number of species exceeds 140 and will doubtless reach consi derably higher The majority of these are unicellular and colonial forms included in the group
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
Tiffany--The Gizzard Shad 383
known bulls Protococcales a number are desmids and diatoms and a few are filamentous The number of any particular kind especially among the Protocoecales seems to depend directly upon the richness of the plankton present No attempt is made in this paper to give the identification of the microscopic plants and animalswa further study is necessary before such a report can be made
The following table gives in approximate percentages the food of the gizzard shad in a comparative way for each locality
APPROXIMATE PERCENTAGES OF KINDS OF FOOD IN GIZZARD SHAD
Locality
Buckeye Lake Loramie Lake Indian Lake
St Marys Lake Chippewa Lake Portage Lakes
Micro- Micro-
algm animals
Percentage Percentage 80-90 o-5 75-9 o 26 75-88 3-5 8o-9o 6-8 8o-9o z 3 70-9 oslash zo-x 5
Filamentous
Percentage
o
2- 4
Oo
2- 5
Plant
debris
5-I0
5-20
ZOX5
8-X2
5-I0
XOZ5
One of the outstanding features of the foregoing table is the constancy in the percentage of microscopic plants found in the fishes examined regardless of locality or size within the range of this study The kinds of algabull comprising the food were not the same for different localities and even for the same locality differences were noted in fish collected in June and August This variation is doubtless due to the geographic dis- tribution of the plants and to the fact that most algae have rather definite seasonal cycles of vegetative development But the more or less constant percentage seems to indicate that the gizzard shad is able to utilize a rather large variety of micro- scopic plants The writer hopes to be able to follow out some of the seasonal changes for a given locality in the near future Another interesting observation is the comparative sameness of diet of the fish throughout the period it is attaining a length of sebull-enty millimeters and even more Many other fishes like
A complete list of the algm determined in the food of the Gizzard Shad appeared in the Ohio Journal of Science for February z92z
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
384 dinerican Fisheries Society
the small and large-mouth bass make decided changes in the kind of food taken during the period of their growth to a similar length An examination of two gizzard shad 200 mil- limeters in Iength did not materially alter the percentages as given above with the exception that there was a greater amount of unrecognizable debris
The animal percentages are not so constant the amount being sometimes zero but it seems certain that no discrimina- tion is exercised in food selection The gizzard shad is chiefly a vegetarian but the percentages of animal food present are too large to be considered otherwise than as he animal part of the plankton On the other hand it forms no such large a factor as the report of Forbes would indicate which means merely that in the present case the plant life was proportionately more abundant Towing records indicate the same proportions of animal and plant life in the plankton
The filamentous algae were always present in small quanti- ties and there was but a single instance of the presence of any parts of the higher plants In one gizzard shad the re- mains of some epidermal and palisade cells of a small leaf were found but it must be considered purely accidental The filamentous algae were largely young plants broken up into relatively small pieces No plant was ever observed longer than three-tenths of a millimeter and the material was never wadded up either in the gizzard or in the intestine
Not more than a decade or two ago most ichthyologists were agreed that the gizzard shad was a beautiful but never- theless worthless fish That it is beautiful no one will dispute With its Silvery white sides and its graceful rapid dashes through the water near the surface it makes a very attractive fish But it is decidedly not worthless While it is not a game fish and at the present time furnishes very littie food for man it holds a very important place in the life cycle of a number of our best game fish notably the smaI1 and Iarge-mouth bass the crapPie and the white bass The younger gizzard shad fur-
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
Tiffany--The Gixard Shad 385
nishes excellent food for these fishes which experience no dif- ficulty in disposing of the too numerous bones
As noted above the shad is almost wholly a vegetarian and thrives on plants so tiny and minute that sometimes 10000 of them laid side by side would not reach an inch These minute plants form a very important part of the flora of most unpol- luted bodies of water and are present by the millions in nearly every Iake of the state None of the other fishes seems to be able to utilize this great source of food to any considerable extent except when quite young Thus the gizzard shad does not interfere in the least with the food supply of the game fishes and is itself excellent food for the majority of our game fishes
The gizzard shad offers for the game fishes one of the most direct routes from manufacturer to consumer that is pos- sible among fishes Of course plants ultimately form the basic food for all living organisms but the cycle is oftentimes a long one The Chinese proverb Big fish eat little fish little fish eat shrimp and shrimp eat m ud gives a cycle that comes very nearly standing the test of modern science if we understand the mud to be microscopic plants and animals An ordinary food cycle of a fish might be illustrated by a bass feeding on smaller fish these in turn on tiny animals which may eat the larvae of still smaller animal organisms and the latter living on microscopic algae But the cycle from the same bass through the gizzard shad to microscopic algae is a much shorter and more direct route Thus the gizzard shad holds a rather unique position in that it may completely bridge the gap between our game fishes and the ultimate source of their food supply the microscopic plants
In 1888 Forbes wrote this very important paragraph about the gizzard shad but it is only recently that any practical ap- plication is being made of such knowledge
Among the soft-tinned fishes the most valuable as food for other kinds is the gizzard shad (Dorosoma) this single fish being about twice as common in adults as all the minnow family taken together It made forty per cent of the food of the wall-eyed pike a third of that of the
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
386 American Fisheries Society
black bass nearly half of that of the common pike or bullpickerel two- thirds of that of the four specimens of golden shad examined and a third of the food of the gars The only other fishes in whose stomachs it was recognized were the yellow cat (4rneiurus natalis) and the young white bullbass (Roccus) It thus seems to be the especial food of the large game fishes and other particularly predaceous kinds
It seems important that such information should be widely distributed among those interested in the propagation of fishes As an illustration of benefits to be derived from such knowl-
edge mention may be made of conditions at the newly formed Milton Reservoir near Newton Falls Ohio This fine body of water with its plentiful supply of microscopic alge as ascer- tained from towed material offers excellent living conditions for the gizzard shad and its presence means plenty of food for the bass Dr Raymond C Osburn has already advised in one of his reports to the State Bureau that this reservoir be stocked with the gizzard shad
SUMMARY
The observations recorded in the paper may be briefly sum- marized as follows
1 The distribution of the gizzard shad is general for the inland lakes of Ohio
2 Its food consists in the main of microscopic alge with a small variable percentage of microscopic animals
3 It seems that mud though present to some extent in most of the fishes examined is incidental
4 The gizzard shad furnishes excellent food for most of our game fishes notably the large-mouth and small-mouth bass the crappie and the white bass
5 The gizzard shad holds an almost unique position as a direct connection between the microscopic plants and the game fishes interfering in no way with the food supply of the latter
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
Tiffany--The Gizzard Shad 383
known bulls Protococcales a number are desmids and diatoms and a few are filamentous The number of any particular kind especially among the Protocoecales seems to depend directly upon the richness of the plankton present No attempt is made in this paper to give the identification of the microscopic plants and animalswa further study is necessary before such a report can be made
The following table gives in approximate percentages the food of the gizzard shad in a comparative way for each locality
APPROXIMATE PERCENTAGES OF KINDS OF FOOD IN GIZZARD SHAD
Locality
Buckeye Lake Loramie Lake Indian Lake
St Marys Lake Chippewa Lake Portage Lakes
Micro- Micro-
algm animals
Percentage Percentage 80-90 o-5 75-9 o 26 75-88 3-5 8o-9o 6-8 8o-9o z 3 70-9 oslash zo-x 5
Filamentous
Percentage
o
2- 4
Oo
2- 5
Plant
debris
5-I0
5-20
ZOX5
8-X2
5-I0
XOZ5
One of the outstanding features of the foregoing table is the constancy in the percentage of microscopic plants found in the fishes examined regardless of locality or size within the range of this study The kinds of algabull comprising the food were not the same for different localities and even for the same locality differences were noted in fish collected in June and August This variation is doubtless due to the geographic dis- tribution of the plants and to the fact that most algae have rather definite seasonal cycles of vegetative development But the more or less constant percentage seems to indicate that the gizzard shad is able to utilize a rather large variety of micro- scopic plants The writer hopes to be able to follow out some of the seasonal changes for a given locality in the near future Another interesting observation is the comparative sameness of diet of the fish throughout the period it is attaining a length of sebull-enty millimeters and even more Many other fishes like
A complete list of the algm determined in the food of the Gizzard Shad appeared in the Ohio Journal of Science for February z92z
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
384 dinerican Fisheries Society
the small and large-mouth bass make decided changes in the kind of food taken during the period of their growth to a similar length An examination of two gizzard shad 200 mil- limeters in Iength did not materially alter the percentages as given above with the exception that there was a greater amount of unrecognizable debris
The animal percentages are not so constant the amount being sometimes zero but it seems certain that no discrimina- tion is exercised in food selection The gizzard shad is chiefly a vegetarian but the percentages of animal food present are too large to be considered otherwise than as he animal part of the plankton On the other hand it forms no such large a factor as the report of Forbes would indicate which means merely that in the present case the plant life was proportionately more abundant Towing records indicate the same proportions of animal and plant life in the plankton
The filamentous algae were always present in small quanti- ties and there was but a single instance of the presence of any parts of the higher plants In one gizzard shad the re- mains of some epidermal and palisade cells of a small leaf were found but it must be considered purely accidental The filamentous algae were largely young plants broken up into relatively small pieces No plant was ever observed longer than three-tenths of a millimeter and the material was never wadded up either in the gizzard or in the intestine
Not more than a decade or two ago most ichthyologists were agreed that the gizzard shad was a beautiful but never- theless worthless fish That it is beautiful no one will dispute With its Silvery white sides and its graceful rapid dashes through the water near the surface it makes a very attractive fish But it is decidedly not worthless While it is not a game fish and at the present time furnishes very littie food for man it holds a very important place in the life cycle of a number of our best game fish notably the smaI1 and Iarge-mouth bass the crapPie and the white bass The younger gizzard shad fur-
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
Tiffany--The Gixard Shad 385
nishes excellent food for these fishes which experience no dif- ficulty in disposing of the too numerous bones
As noted above the shad is almost wholly a vegetarian and thrives on plants so tiny and minute that sometimes 10000 of them laid side by side would not reach an inch These minute plants form a very important part of the flora of most unpol- luted bodies of water and are present by the millions in nearly every Iake of the state None of the other fishes seems to be able to utilize this great source of food to any considerable extent except when quite young Thus the gizzard shad does not interfere in the least with the food supply of the game fishes and is itself excellent food for the majority of our game fishes
The gizzard shad offers for the game fishes one of the most direct routes from manufacturer to consumer that is pos- sible among fishes Of course plants ultimately form the basic food for all living organisms but the cycle is oftentimes a long one The Chinese proverb Big fish eat little fish little fish eat shrimp and shrimp eat m ud gives a cycle that comes very nearly standing the test of modern science if we understand the mud to be microscopic plants and animals An ordinary food cycle of a fish might be illustrated by a bass feeding on smaller fish these in turn on tiny animals which may eat the larvae of still smaller animal organisms and the latter living on microscopic algae But the cycle from the same bass through the gizzard shad to microscopic algae is a much shorter and more direct route Thus the gizzard shad holds a rather unique position in that it may completely bridge the gap between our game fishes and the ultimate source of their food supply the microscopic plants
In 1888 Forbes wrote this very important paragraph about the gizzard shad but it is only recently that any practical ap- plication is being made of such knowledge
Among the soft-tinned fishes the most valuable as food for other kinds is the gizzard shad (Dorosoma) this single fish being about twice as common in adults as all the minnow family taken together It made forty per cent of the food of the wall-eyed pike a third of that of the
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
386 American Fisheries Society
black bass nearly half of that of the common pike or bullpickerel two- thirds of that of the four specimens of golden shad examined and a third of the food of the gars The only other fishes in whose stomachs it was recognized were the yellow cat (4rneiurus natalis) and the young white bullbass (Roccus) It thus seems to be the especial food of the large game fishes and other particularly predaceous kinds
It seems important that such information should be widely distributed among those interested in the propagation of fishes As an illustration of benefits to be derived from such knowl-
edge mention may be made of conditions at the newly formed Milton Reservoir near Newton Falls Ohio This fine body of water with its plentiful supply of microscopic alge as ascer- tained from towed material offers excellent living conditions for the gizzard shad and its presence means plenty of food for the bass Dr Raymond C Osburn has already advised in one of his reports to the State Bureau that this reservoir be stocked with the gizzard shad
SUMMARY
The observations recorded in the paper may be briefly sum- marized as follows
1 The distribution of the gizzard shad is general for the inland lakes of Ohio
2 Its food consists in the main of microscopic alge with a small variable percentage of microscopic animals
3 It seems that mud though present to some extent in most of the fishes examined is incidental
4 The gizzard shad furnishes excellent food for most of our game fishes notably the large-mouth and small-mouth bass the crappie and the white bass
5 The gizzard shad holds an almost unique position as a direct connection between the microscopic plants and the game fishes interfering in no way with the food supply of the latter
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
384 dinerican Fisheries Society
the small and large-mouth bass make decided changes in the kind of food taken during the period of their growth to a similar length An examination of two gizzard shad 200 mil- limeters in Iength did not materially alter the percentages as given above with the exception that there was a greater amount of unrecognizable debris
The animal percentages are not so constant the amount being sometimes zero but it seems certain that no discrimina- tion is exercised in food selection The gizzard shad is chiefly a vegetarian but the percentages of animal food present are too large to be considered otherwise than as he animal part of the plankton On the other hand it forms no such large a factor as the report of Forbes would indicate which means merely that in the present case the plant life was proportionately more abundant Towing records indicate the same proportions of animal and plant life in the plankton
The filamentous algae were always present in small quanti- ties and there was but a single instance of the presence of any parts of the higher plants In one gizzard shad the re- mains of some epidermal and palisade cells of a small leaf were found but it must be considered purely accidental The filamentous algae were largely young plants broken up into relatively small pieces No plant was ever observed longer than three-tenths of a millimeter and the material was never wadded up either in the gizzard or in the intestine
Not more than a decade or two ago most ichthyologists were agreed that the gizzard shad was a beautiful but never- theless worthless fish That it is beautiful no one will dispute With its Silvery white sides and its graceful rapid dashes through the water near the surface it makes a very attractive fish But it is decidedly not worthless While it is not a game fish and at the present time furnishes very littie food for man it holds a very important place in the life cycle of a number of our best game fish notably the smaI1 and Iarge-mouth bass the crapPie and the white bass The younger gizzard shad fur-
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
Tiffany--The Gixard Shad 385
nishes excellent food for these fishes which experience no dif- ficulty in disposing of the too numerous bones
As noted above the shad is almost wholly a vegetarian and thrives on plants so tiny and minute that sometimes 10000 of them laid side by side would not reach an inch These minute plants form a very important part of the flora of most unpol- luted bodies of water and are present by the millions in nearly every Iake of the state None of the other fishes seems to be able to utilize this great source of food to any considerable extent except when quite young Thus the gizzard shad does not interfere in the least with the food supply of the game fishes and is itself excellent food for the majority of our game fishes
The gizzard shad offers for the game fishes one of the most direct routes from manufacturer to consumer that is pos- sible among fishes Of course plants ultimately form the basic food for all living organisms but the cycle is oftentimes a long one The Chinese proverb Big fish eat little fish little fish eat shrimp and shrimp eat m ud gives a cycle that comes very nearly standing the test of modern science if we understand the mud to be microscopic plants and animals An ordinary food cycle of a fish might be illustrated by a bass feeding on smaller fish these in turn on tiny animals which may eat the larvae of still smaller animal organisms and the latter living on microscopic algae But the cycle from the same bass through the gizzard shad to microscopic algae is a much shorter and more direct route Thus the gizzard shad holds a rather unique position in that it may completely bridge the gap between our game fishes and the ultimate source of their food supply the microscopic plants
In 1888 Forbes wrote this very important paragraph about the gizzard shad but it is only recently that any practical ap- plication is being made of such knowledge
Among the soft-tinned fishes the most valuable as food for other kinds is the gizzard shad (Dorosoma) this single fish being about twice as common in adults as all the minnow family taken together It made forty per cent of the food of the wall-eyed pike a third of that of the
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
386 American Fisheries Society
black bass nearly half of that of the common pike or bullpickerel two- thirds of that of the four specimens of golden shad examined and a third of the food of the gars The only other fishes in whose stomachs it was recognized were the yellow cat (4rneiurus natalis) and the young white bullbass (Roccus) It thus seems to be the especial food of the large game fishes and other particularly predaceous kinds
It seems important that such information should be widely distributed among those interested in the propagation of fishes As an illustration of benefits to be derived from such knowl-
edge mention may be made of conditions at the newly formed Milton Reservoir near Newton Falls Ohio This fine body of water with its plentiful supply of microscopic alge as ascer- tained from towed material offers excellent living conditions for the gizzard shad and its presence means plenty of food for the bass Dr Raymond C Osburn has already advised in one of his reports to the State Bureau that this reservoir be stocked with the gizzard shad
SUMMARY
The observations recorded in the paper may be briefly sum- marized as follows
1 The distribution of the gizzard shad is general for the inland lakes of Ohio
2 Its food consists in the main of microscopic alge with a small variable percentage of microscopic animals
3 It seems that mud though present to some extent in most of the fishes examined is incidental
4 The gizzard shad furnishes excellent food for most of our game fishes notably the large-mouth and small-mouth bass the crappie and the white bass
5 The gizzard shad holds an almost unique position as a direct connection between the microscopic plants and the game fishes interfering in no way with the food supply of the latter
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
Tiffany--The Gixard Shad 385
nishes excellent food for these fishes which experience no dif- ficulty in disposing of the too numerous bones
As noted above the shad is almost wholly a vegetarian and thrives on plants so tiny and minute that sometimes 10000 of them laid side by side would not reach an inch These minute plants form a very important part of the flora of most unpol- luted bodies of water and are present by the millions in nearly every Iake of the state None of the other fishes seems to be able to utilize this great source of food to any considerable extent except when quite young Thus the gizzard shad does not interfere in the least with the food supply of the game fishes and is itself excellent food for the majority of our game fishes
The gizzard shad offers for the game fishes one of the most direct routes from manufacturer to consumer that is pos- sible among fishes Of course plants ultimately form the basic food for all living organisms but the cycle is oftentimes a long one The Chinese proverb Big fish eat little fish little fish eat shrimp and shrimp eat m ud gives a cycle that comes very nearly standing the test of modern science if we understand the mud to be microscopic plants and animals An ordinary food cycle of a fish might be illustrated by a bass feeding on smaller fish these in turn on tiny animals which may eat the larvae of still smaller animal organisms and the latter living on microscopic algae But the cycle from the same bass through the gizzard shad to microscopic algae is a much shorter and more direct route Thus the gizzard shad holds a rather unique position in that it may completely bridge the gap between our game fishes and the ultimate source of their food supply the microscopic plants
In 1888 Forbes wrote this very important paragraph about the gizzard shad but it is only recently that any practical ap- plication is being made of such knowledge
Among the soft-tinned fishes the most valuable as food for other kinds is the gizzard shad (Dorosoma) this single fish being about twice as common in adults as all the minnow family taken together It made forty per cent of the food of the wall-eyed pike a third of that of the
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
386 American Fisheries Society
black bass nearly half of that of the common pike or bullpickerel two- thirds of that of the four specimens of golden shad examined and a third of the food of the gars The only other fishes in whose stomachs it was recognized were the yellow cat (4rneiurus natalis) and the young white bullbass (Roccus) It thus seems to be the especial food of the large game fishes and other particularly predaceous kinds
It seems important that such information should be widely distributed among those interested in the propagation of fishes As an illustration of benefits to be derived from such knowl-
edge mention may be made of conditions at the newly formed Milton Reservoir near Newton Falls Ohio This fine body of water with its plentiful supply of microscopic alge as ascer- tained from towed material offers excellent living conditions for the gizzard shad and its presence means plenty of food for the bass Dr Raymond C Osburn has already advised in one of his reports to the State Bureau that this reservoir be stocked with the gizzard shad
SUMMARY
The observations recorded in the paper may be briefly sum- marized as follows
1 The distribution of the gizzard shad is general for the inland lakes of Ohio
2 Its food consists in the main of microscopic alge with a small variable percentage of microscopic animals
3 It seems that mud though present to some extent in most of the fishes examined is incidental
4 The gizzard shad furnishes excellent food for most of our game fishes notably the large-mouth and small-mouth bass the crappie and the white bass
5 The gizzard shad holds an almost unique position as a direct connection between the microscopic plants and the game fishes interfering in no way with the food supply of the latter
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
386 American Fisheries Society
black bass nearly half of that of the common pike or bullpickerel two- thirds of that of the four specimens of golden shad examined and a third of the food of the gars The only other fishes in whose stomachs it was recognized were the yellow cat (4rneiurus natalis) and the young white bullbass (Roccus) It thus seems to be the especial food of the large game fishes and other particularly predaceous kinds
It seems important that such information should be widely distributed among those interested in the propagation of fishes As an illustration of benefits to be derived from such knowl-
edge mention may be made of conditions at the newly formed Milton Reservoir near Newton Falls Ohio This fine body of water with its plentiful supply of microscopic alge as ascer- tained from towed material offers excellent living conditions for the gizzard shad and its presence means plenty of food for the bass Dr Raymond C Osburn has already advised in one of his reports to the State Bureau that this reservoir be stocked with the gizzard shad
SUMMARY
The observations recorded in the paper may be briefly sum- marized as follows
1 The distribution of the gizzard shad is general for the inland lakes of Ohio
2 Its food consists in the main of microscopic alge with a small variable percentage of microscopic animals
3 It seems that mud though present to some extent in most of the fishes examined is incidental
4 The gizzard shad furnishes excellent food for most of our game fishes notably the large-mouth and small-mouth bass the crappie and the white bass
5 The gizzard shad holds an almost unique position as a direct connection between the microscopic plants and the game fishes interfering in no way with the food supply of the latter
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th C
arol
ina
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
] at
18
59 1
0 N
ovem
ber
2014
